americans flocked to voting stations after the end of a presidential campaign though fears over ford melt. and the world waits anxiously for the outcome for many nations it's a case of hoping for victory the devil you know. strikes in greece a nationwide walkout freezes the country nor makers prepare to vote through new cuts crucial for fresh. cash. claims high tech american weapons are reaching rebels in syria and accuses the western media of flawed reporting.

international news and comment live from the new center here in moscow this is r.t. the top story the vote that's affecting every nation on earth the u.s. presidential election. with ballots now open across mainland america voters are flocking to decide the president though voting is already hitting trouble in the super storm wrecked the northeast thousands are struggling to reach a polling station while allegations of party voter suppression and even ballot tampering surface elsewhere. she's in new york and. tell us how the voting going at this stage. well so far i can tell you bill that this election day is turning out to be a mixed bag of problems five hours after polls have opened on the east coast

there's been several reports of delays long lines wrapping through the streets of manhattan and now of course as you mentioned there were polling sites in new york city were moved or relocated due to hurricane sandy and her aftermath because of the destruction that was caused now this of course has caused people to scramble and find out where they could go to vote how they can vote one location on the upper east side there were reports of ballots being misplaced and electronic machines not working military trucks are being used as. makeshift polling stations in staten island where many people thousands are still living without power ballots are being cast by flashlight now over in new jersey. the governor has allowed residents to vote via fax or e-mail because some two hundred voting locations were destroyed last week by the hurricane this is cause for

security experts to say that these votes can be happy it will not be secure because on line voting cannot be verifiable it could lead to a disaster in a close contentious race such as the one taking place between barack obama and mitt romney over in oregon they've already been allegations of voter fraud and ballot tampering in florida a lawsuit has a ready been filed over early voting suppression in nevada democrats have been accused of registering illegal immigrants and authorities in texas and iowa have already threatened international monitors from the organization for security and cooperation in europe with arrest if they approach voting locations now clearly this is not turning out to be a smooth election day here in the u.s. but this is not something new for the u.s. election system as artie's on associate churkin explains the u.s. system has been. around controversy when it comes to election. you elected

me to tell you the truth honesty is the best policy while maybe not in u.s. elections two words define why people hate america double standard on everything in this presidential election season these two words are back in full swing the basic definition of a double standard is a rule or principle unfairly applied in different ways to different people or groups let's find out if this is relevant to the us election system from questionable voter id regulations to shortened early voting time slots to gerrymandering or rejoicing congressional district lines to favor certain party laws affecting voters rights are passed left and right and vary state by state do you have an eric holder this video shows how easy it is to attempt to steal attorney general eric holder's vote when an idea is not required chicago might be. yet places that do ask for a government issued photo id can affect over ten percent of americans that simply

don't have one there is an attempt to prevent large numbers of people from actually exercising the ballot election monitors usually serve the purpose of keeping track of in discrepancies and while the u.s. likes to keep a close eye on the way elections are handled abroad even the carter center which grows a rod and does the great work of monitoring elections. refuses to monitor u.s. elections on the grounds. basic standards of integrity when election ideals are not met elsewhere criticism runs rampant elections in venezuela elections in iran elections in russia. the press will go to town on any sign that the outcome was fixed and while nitpicking abroad is all the rage the elephant in the room remains unnoticed at home policymakers and to a great extent our media and and trickle down to the american people have literally the literally think that the rest of the world is stupid. that they don't see it

that everybody naturally house to admit you know my or us that we're great and it's not the case well obvious flaws are met with a deaf ear and hear him and you're out a flawed election process continues to be the first vote cast in the u.s. and if their future cannot party new york. polls still cold separate barack obama and mitt romney who have been in a dead heat for a month now but alongside the two front runners many others who were running weren't given a voice in the media so gave them the platform they needed the notion that we have been the country that stood up to the ball the as opposed to being a bully it's a growing police state quite obviously we can end the failed racist war on drugs downsize the military and the drone wars bring the troops home let's stop with our military interventions let's get out of afghanistan tomorrow or thirty thousand drones flying over the united states what are they flying over the united states in

the unemployment and jumpstart the green economy that spells an end to climate change and make wars for oil obsolete what was striking about the debate was held different the proposals put forward were from those of romney he's going to report on just what a third party could have to offer. with this of two presidential candidates who know very well you know perfectly well that they don't stand a chance to win this election but they screw their hats in the ring because they claim the two parties were public and democratic have conspired to leave americans with no choice or with an illusion of choice as they say joel stein from the green party and gary johnson from the libertarian party debated in our studio this monday night but it was not a debate simply against the two party system listening to how these alternative candidates argued on the economy you could see how dramatically opposite their views are. on the subject it was a heated debate on the role of the government the libertarian candidate for

instance was arguing that the u.s. should get rid of all taxes except the federal consumption tax but on foreign policy they demonstrated a similar view both offering views distinctly alternative to those of romney and barack obama who we deserve a foreign policy based on international law human rights and diplomacy unfortunately we currently have an international policy based on wars for oil and the use of brute military force as a tool of foreign policy we're funding the syrian insurgents a quarter of the syrian insurgents are just potus did we not learn our lessons when it came to afghanistan and the fact that we bankrolled osama bin laden and how did that turn out look there are unintended consequences to our military interventions always worse than better campaign financing is becoming a huge issue here especially with the supreme court ruling which now allows

corporations to funnel as much money as they want into political campaigns which makes it virtually impossible for someone without the backing of the big party machines to win an election the news cycle here in america is entirely focused on the two parties americans know very little if anything about alternative candidates when green parties jill stein was the west. protesting outside the place where president obama and mitt romney debated in mid october it went completely ignored by the media here so it seems the party solution is to black out alternative voices and to convince the american people that they have no other choice but barack obama and mitt romney and the mainstream media here are very much part of that blackout. for many nations the u.s. election is almost as important as their own whether it be because of financial aid or military protection they know what a bomb is all about but mitt romney on the other hand is an unknown quantity auntie's alexian a chef he looks at what the republican candidate might herald. if mitt romney wanted to make friends across the atlantic during his summer tour he's certainly

failed first he doubted britain's preparations for the olympics then he angered palestinians by calling jerusalem israel's capital even though washington does not recognize israel's annexation of its eastern lands romney has been bashing europe in his campaign back home but across the pond many have been thinking where they say he really has a clue what was happening in the old world and some are even openly concerned about his potential when there is a fear of victory will see or for the implementation of free market measures particularly tax cuts which can only encourage governments like david cameron from britain to emulate what happens in america under a republican presidency that has been a pattern of the last three decades so i think people in britain would be scared of a romney victory china is also among those closely watching the republican candidates ties between beijing and washington have already hit a low with the u.s.

planning to relocate most of its naval force into the pacific but romney's even more combative stance is met with criticism in china namely his calls to step up weapons sales to taiwan and labeling china a currency manipulator all randomly has to do is declare war on china on a day on the first eighty eight example relations with russia was a large chunk of romney's election campaign and that's where he also created some grounds for concern just like his republican predecessor in the presidential race john mccain romney has been expressing a hard line if not hostile attitude towards moscow which made many in russia think that should he become the new u.s. leader the relations would be reset again but this time towards negativity president romney is branding of russia as the united states main geopolitical foe even prompted some rather sarcastic gratitude from russia's president. putin said it's thanks to romney that moscow understood its suspicions about the missile

defense shield in europe were spot on if mr romney is elected it will be farcical see a trickle called war. where there romney's bid for presidency will be successful is yet to be determined but he's saber rattling towards russia india iran has already sparked comparisons with george w. bush's first term that proves to be the case that it's completely vague how romney would build transatlantic corp having made so many blunders already let's see russia ski r.t. reporting from moscow. and risk an expert on middle east affairs as muslims around the world have already decided on their candidate it's very clear the orientation or the inclination of the muslims is to vote for obama although or bomber has continued with the double standard policy with respect to the israeli palestinian issue although he has continued the unwavering american support for israel the

basic belief amongst the american muslims and even amongst muslims here in the middle east is an obama to the least extent is the less of two evils because we all know the rhetoric which has been used by romney so for all these reasons it is clear that the a muslim world and also particularly the muslims in europe the sense of america will be voting for obama and then a close election by this one and these muslim votes in america might have a very big say in who emerges as the victor and we continue extensive coverage here on r.t. as the vote progress is tackling issues you won't hear being addressed on mainstream networks stay up to date on the elections right here and also on our website r.t. dot com. of the six america votes for its next president. who takes the wheel as the us drives into the future. get the news the mainstream missives with uploads election coverage to his selection of close to

dot com. usually the police and occupy protesters are like oil and water but in atlanta they've come together to save the house of a former detective jacqueline barber unfortunately ms barber lost a lot of money battling cancer and was facing eviction when she turned to occupy homes for help so far she's managed to stay in her home despite it being sold out from under her feet but the main thing is that her fight to stay in her home has become like a bridge between two groups who are usually at each other's throats the police and occupiers the thing is that cruel economic practices can affect us all even retired police like ms barber i know there are some irresponsible people who buy things they can't pay for and here the police have to do something about them but they

shouldn't throw you out of your home that you've paid for for years just for getting cancer no one should have to live with the constant fear that their home will be taken away after years and years of payment just because they got sick and america i thought we believed in private property not eternally renting from big banks but that's just my opinion. wealthy british style. markets. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with. no holds barred look at the global financial headlines kaiser reports.

here in moscow the news continues now israel has announced plans to build over a thousand new homes in the occupied west bank international community has condemned tel aviv settlement policy saying they violate international law but the jewish state feels safe under the us i'm brother which will remain whoever becomes the next president that's a view of the head of the israeli committee against house demolitions. it's true the international community opposes israeli policies but it won't do anything to sanction israel and israel knows and it knows it whether obama's elected or romney

selected its trump card is the american congress support that israel has from both political parties and it doesn't care anymore it will do this in the light of day israel has eliminated the two state solution as it's called it's completely imprisoning the palestinians and no one in the world is going to speak up against it so it doesn't matter really if it's opportunistic or not the point is that israel wins. getting down to business later we look at what the british prime minister has to offer the conduct of lot of kids in the gulf on his trade to a. top level reshuffles in the russian government a corruption scandal claims the head of the country's defense ministry made on occasions that embezzlement has left one hundred million dollars and the nation's budget that's ahead. because russia's foreign minister says sophisticated american surface to air missiles are making their way into the hands of rebel militias in

syria he also accused the western media of twisting the facts in its reporting of the civil war. the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov speaking in the jordanian capital of amman has warned against western power was supplying syrian opposition fighters with illegal weapons he says that russia has evidence as well as information that the fighters are being supplied with high tech a face of equipment more than fifty stinger has a chemical in the hands of the bullfighters and that equipment is made now lavrov also said that he was very surprised to find out that the b.b.c. says it has information that russia is supplying syria with weapons of mass destruction he said it was amazing to hear from the coast fund and of such a respected corporation such claims being made at the same time he did say that russia was finishing its arms shipment to damascus and that these were deals that were made and old contracts but that the distinction needs to be made that these

are only defensive weapons weapons that are not being used in the conflict by comparison with the type of weapons that are making it into the opposition fighters today that are fueling the conflict on the ground if not also say that russia's position is clear that they need to be talks between the syrian government and the opposition he said it is up to syrians to decide for themselves who they want in the transitional government and he warned against making from the outside now comments come as the syrian opposition meets in doha what we do know is that the meeting is aimed at bringing the opposition together but certainly the u.s. has previously suggested that it would hand pick some of the candidates for this new united opposition but we are seeing is washington taking an active part in forming this new body there are already reports within the opposition with some members claiming that the reshuffle has not been done copy and that what we've seen is old names nearly being replaced by new names who really have the same political position there is growing concern of what will evolve in syria will be much the

same as what happened in libya where western countries recognize the opposition as the only legitimate government and then launched military action. big concern is that by not recognizing the syrian president bashar assad wish to nations will be given greater freedom to do what they want country. in these director and founder of the french center for intelligence studies believes turkey in the gulf states are helping the u.s. transfer weapons to rebels on the ground. perfectly know that all this rebel groups i mean most of them. they receive the strong support from the american government directly sometimes but most of that through the channel as well as. so it's very difficult to know exactly what very modern weapons are received but. they are the strong support coming from the u.s. . billions of dollars are at stake for the british prime minister in

a low key arms sales top to the gulf states david cameron's aim to sell around one hundred typhoon fighter jets to clients with controversial records on human rights arms trade or research or body pace believes the potential deals are against british law. well certainly the revelation of cameron contrary to his normal form is only taking one camera man with him certainly does raise questions and certainly david cameron should be embarrassed about sexuality in the middle east right now what we're seeing is that the interests of international arms companies appear to be trumping british laws and british values when it comes to upholding human rights. cameron has publicly aligned himself with the arab spring movements he's going to great efforts as we can see to sell arms to the very same oppressive regimes that the arab spring was opposed fundamentally promoting arms sales to these countries undermines what regulations the u.k.

does have on controlling arms exports these deals have been in extra could be linked to corruption in the past indeed the r.e.m. arms deal to saudi arabia one of the countries in question is arguably the most corrupt transaction in the history of mankind. just to remind you more news waiting for you at the moment on our web site r.t. dot com computing a warning sign in london is hundreds of members of the pack and with a lot of their their team for the u.k. government marking guy fawkes night with protests in the capital. plus a close call for iran as an israeli documentary reveals part of it was all set to strike tehran back in two thousand and ten and learn more about that at r.t. dot com. greece has been brought to a standstill by general strikes on the second day of what's been called devil's week it's a week of public action in protest of the newest parity package about to be voted on by parliament what he peed all over is in the center of athens. well the forty

eight hour general strike is well and truly underway here in greece and we seems thousands of people coming out onto the streets of athens to voice their anger against the latest round of austerity measures that's being put forward by prime ministers so maurice now that will be voted on in parliament on whedon's day it's around serious team point five billion euros worth of savings those savings taking the form of of budget cuts also of tax rises also we expect to see the the age of retirement rice and pensions cuts all of these things angering the people of greece and seeing them out on the streets to demonstrate against it now it's more than likely that that latest round of austerity measures will be passed one of the reasons why it will be passed is because if greece doesn't pass it then they're not going to get the next round of bailout money that they need so very much now that's just over thirty one billion euros worth of bailout money and they've been told by

the three main creditors that they have to slash more from the deficit they have to make more savings and this is why they've they've put forward this this nativist package for thirteen point five billion euros worth of savings and it's not expected to be an easy thing no as they say it should pass but it should be a very tight vote in the parliament and all that leaves people wondering is well even if this does pass will it be enough politicians on site in order to implement these latest savings. in other world news now at least twenty seven people have reportedly been killed and over twenty wounded in a car bomb blast near a military base north of iraq's capital baghdad the bomb struck as troops were leaving at midday it's the second bomb to target iraqi soldiers in less than twenty four hours a monday eight people were wounded when an explosion hit an army patrol in the same area. the trial of four israeli commandos over their roles in the boarding of

a two thousand and ten. aid flotilla has been held in a turkish court the citizens were killed when israeli forces stormed a humanitarian aid ship aiming to reach gaza through a naval blockade imposed by israel if convicted he went to warrants for the rest and they could each face up to nine consecutive life sentences. president vladimir putin is sacked russia's defense minister over a corruption scandal the current investigation is being launched into allegations of embezzlement surrounding the ministry which could end up costing around one hundred million dollars off the show thomas has the details this all boils down to scandal corruption and embezzlement to the tune of one hundred u.s. million dollars damage to the russian federal budget basically under anatoly watch defense ministry properties that were undervalued and skoal sold under sketchy circumstances and what that means is that led to this particularly shake up meeting

that they needed to make sure that the investigation regarding the scandal was fair and objective there are barred even to arrest to put. in this position he's charged with the task of cleaning up the defense ministries affairs now he has been very popular the past eighteen years as the emergencies minister and most recently he has been serving as the governor of the moscow region so very popular person big task ahead of him. you're watching r t we're here in moscow with the twenty four hours a day we bring you the kaiser report in a couple minutes from now. the mighty volga that runs deep through the russian soul it has provided inspiration for songs and poems and is the country's main north south artery and decades ago

schumann ingenuity connected it to the don't refer to the west the voted on canal is an engineering marvel within a day a vessel can pass the canals thirteen locks ten million tons of shipping does so every year. another concrete giant is this finished fifty years ago it's the biggest hydroelectric plant in europe it powers the local city of volgograd and sends lots more electricity to moscow the hydroelectric plant behind me is a potent example of how much the volga can provide but harnessing a revel like this isn't without its cost. fishermen have been watching fish stocks for years they see the slow damage the downing of the river has done especially to russia's prized sturgeon the source of caviar but in the president of the heinz your electric plant has done significant damage because it's stocked fish swimming up river to the spawning grounds. within

a year all these houses would have gone fallen into the river depending on how many of the hydroelectric plants turbines are on the water level can change suddenly and dramatically too suddenly for the banks to absorb. control of the river flow by the plant has made building on the bogus flood plain more attractive serious floods are less likely but the water that is put into the drains is taken away from the fish that need it now. but lost the voice of the voters of color g. might stop being hurt. for the first time in fifty here is the rules will contain a point on maintaining biodiversity in the river we still have a chance to bring the vulgar back to life. meaning that the mighty is treated with the respect it deserves.

as you're welcome to the kaiser report it's a big decision day in america today but the biggest decision for all we debtor nations and debt populations is to decide are we perilous to tackle bankers or is it time to read up and started yet. stacy back that's a lot like the front page the cover i might add of the independent on sunday magazine that's max kaiser rip it up and start again. of course you're talking about the us elections and it's time to rip it up and start again but this is something that hasn't happened we saw it we've just been in ireland we saw there the social contract has been ripped up by.